Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 217 PM EST Wed Jan 20 2016 Valid 00Z Thu Jan 21 2016 - 00Z Sat Jan 23 2016 ...Strong to severe thunderstorms possible across the lower Mississippi valley on Thursday... ...Major winter storm developing across the South spreading significant snow and ice from the Tennessee Valley to the Mid-Atlantic... ...Heavy precipitation coming ashore in the Pacific Northwest... The weather pattern expected to unfold over the period will result in a classic set up for a major east coast winter storm. It begins in the west with an upper level system moving across the Northwest tonight and is expected to generate snows across the northern and central Rockies as it continues to drop southeastward. This system is expected to spill across the central Rockies into the southern Great Plains Thursday morning, spurring the development of a surface low pressure system that is forecast to track across northern Texas, reaching the lower Mississippi valley by Thursday evening. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop out ahead of this system. Some of these storms may be strong to severe, particularly across the lower Mississippi valley on Thursday. North of the low, another round of wintry precipitation is expected, with accumulating snow possible from central and northern Arkansas, across Kentucky into southwestern Virgina and western North Carolina. Significant icing is possible as well, especially across portions of western and central Kentucky. By early Friday, snows are expected to begin spreading across the central Appalachians, while freezing rain begins to impact parts of western and central North Carolina. Meanwhile, showers and thunderstorms will continue to advance across the Southeast, reaching Georgia and Florida by Friday morning. By Friday evening low pressure will reach the South Carolina coast. Heavy snow will be spread into the Mid-Atlantic and freezing rain will impact northern Georgia to south central Virginia. Across the western U.S., the parade of frontal systems continues, with another system expected to approach the Northwest late tonight into early Thursday. This system is expected to bring locally heavy precipitation to western Washington. Krekeler/Pereira Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php